Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Wife called the police while I was out.

i'm thinking guns and unsupervised teens do not mix. i keep my guns in the safe at all times. i have twin teenagers and taught them well but they do not shoot unsupervised. and i live in the country with no close neighbors.

+1 to that

Yes sir, he's in trouble. I have had him in a duckblind since he was 5 and he has been hunting since he was 8. He killed his first goose with a 20 ga. when he was 8. He has always been very careful and I have always taught him to be safe. He is almost 16 and I just started to give him a little rope cause i was hunting by myself when i was 12 or 13. He had a head in the ass moment and that mixed with a very windy day led shot falling in a bad place and I plan on going through hunter safety with him for the second time. He has always been supervised till lately when hunting and I will now shorten his rope.

That ain't right. I'm afraid we'd have to have a little talk about that.

Anyone who has spent a lot of time outdoors in areas where bird hunting is common has probably had a birdshot shower, which is fairly harmless.

I seriously doubt that your son's birdshot rained on his roof. 3-400 yards is just too far for me to believe. For the moment, I call BS on the neighbor's story. You at least have to consider the possibility that your son did absolutely nothing unsafe.

If you want to believe that birdshot did rain on your neighbor's roof, there is a world of difference between the actions of your son and the actions of your neighbor. If the neighbor's story is true, then what your son did was possibly careless and disrespectful, but not forseeably dangerous to life or property. Your neighbor's action was a chargeable felony, and a direct threat to life and property. Now if he was shooting with a revolver, at targets 3-400 yards away, he probably wasn't likely to kill anyone, but it's still a felony.

My suggestion is that you'll probably have this person as a neighbor for a while, and you're better off telling him that you'll forego prosecution. Your neighbor ought to be the one apologizing, but if you want a good neighbor, you're better off not making that a condition.

Your son did nothing wrong , he doesn't need any more education , at least not for some shot falling on someones house. Buying him some ammo and tell him to go crow hunting again . Your neighbor is the one who needs some more education .

Is it possible your neighbor is full of [bleep]?

7.5's ain't going that far with or without wind.

I'd hate to see a kid that actually likes to play outside lose privileges because of a [bleep] up neighbor.

Unsupervised teens with guns? Heck, I was hunting by myself at ten years old. And if I hadn't been, I doubt I would have turned into much of a hunter. My dad was too busy working to do much but on the weekends and with a farm, most of the time not then either. By the time I was actually a teen, I did whatever I wanted with a gun. I figure a 12 year old with a gun, even a slightly reckless one, is about fifty times less dangerous than your average 16 year old behind the wheel of daddy's pick-up and most of you don't bat an eye at that.

As for birdshot, anyone who ever bird hunted or squirrel hunted has had it rain down on you and it is harmless. A shot in the air with birdshot, is a safe shot. It might be rude to shoot so that shot ends up on your neighbor's roof, but it isn't dangerous in the slightest.

Good Plan SealBilly. Kids are gonna make mistakes. And if that's the worst he ever does while hunting, you've done a good job. Just remember, kids today are probably not quite as mature as we were at that same age.

Like you, I've been hunting on my own, and was allowed to run wild on our Ranch with a .22 or a single shot 16ga un-supervised since I was about 11 or 12.
I'm sure I made some bone-headed mistakes, and was just damn lucky my old man didn't see them, or catch me in the act. Luckily, I somehow survived to reach adulthood.

My Dad used what I like to call the "Tony Lama" method of Gun Saftey on me & my little brother.
Another words, if we pointed a gun in a un-safe direction, he would bury his pointed toe Tony Lama boots right up our ass with a swift kick you didn't soon forget. Of course, nowadays, that would be considered child abuse!

I'm Not recommending that for your son, though. I don't have any children, but every one of my Neices & Nephews have rifles & shotguns that I bought them and trained them with. And my patience & a little positive re-enforcement has gone a long way in teaching them all good firearms saftey, and also safe gun handling & hunting.
Like I said, all kids make mistakes. Let him know how serious it could have been, and like you said, tighten up the ole lease for now. I bet he will be just fine, and grow up to be a fine young man.

As for your neighbor, he's damn lucky it wasn't my child or neice or nephew that he randomly returned fire at in a general direction! I'm not very patient at all with an idiot that just returns fire in the direction of a gunshot that he "heard"
That SOB would be eating his next few meals through a straw, if you know what I mean!

In my 40+ years of Dove Hunting, I've been peppered with bird shot a time or two. It does happen when you have a lot of hunters in a 600 acre milo field, with the doves flying hot and heavy. It feels like light rain drops, so when the shooter is 400 yards away, not a whole lot of chance for a serious injury.
Personally, I doubt the #7.5 shot ever reached your neighbors house at 400 yards. My guess was the guy heard gunshots & just decided to show his ass by Acting Stupid. If he was randomly shooting pistol rounds at your son and your wife witnessed the act, I would Definately file charges on him! JMHO, though.

I don't see that your son did anything wrong. If he was 300-400 yards from the house, any reasonable person (teen or adult) wouldn't think that to be unsafe with that type of weapon/load.

Your neighbor, on the other hand, recklessly fired a weapon in the direction he knew people to be. He's guilty of a crime in every state I'm aware of

Who on earth would keep shooting with a kid's mom begging them to stop?

The guy is incredibly malicious or functionally deranged or both.

Ordinarily I'd be all about reconciliation, sorting stuff out informally, and not involving Cops.

But in this case sounds like he's already crossed a line. What's next? One of you having to deploy deadly force?

Based upon the facts presented here I'd file charges.

JMHO,
Birdwatcher

my neighbor would shoot a gun at my child once

and only once.

ok what is making this thread weird to me is people are more worried about how far shot will travel than how people act or the safety of my kids. So here is the deal do the math if it makes you feel better.

My property is 288 feet long north to south the corner of the field is about another 50 yards north and maybe 150 yards west. My neighbors house is close to another 300 feet from the south end of my property making the blind we shoot crows out of kind of northwest of his house. Ridge is about a 30 degree incline and is about 100 yards tall. Hell I don't know it could be closer to 200 250 yards I suck at math and I'm a shot gun guy who doesnt give a $hit if it isnt within 50 yards not a rifle shooter that can say that's 207 yards dead flippin nuts on the money cause I shot a crow with a 204 that had one blue eye at 207 yards and I know 207 yards like the top of my weenie.

Point being its a long ways and the distance of the shot fall isn't what's important. I mean wth some idiot shot in the direction of my son who I love more than life on purpose.

Ive had shot rain down on me many times in the woods, not a big deal at all...your neighbor sounds like an idiot.

I would have filed charges on that SOB in a heart beat! Some one earlier in this thread mentioned apologizing to the neighbor, and not filing charges as to keep peace with a "neighbor" or something to that effect.
If that SOB took random shots at my KID, I'd make damn sure he knew that he was not going to be MY neighbor, and even if that meant going to court.
That guy is unstable to say the least, if he did what your wife said & witnessed, and is a danger to everyone in your neigborhood.

Also, some certain Campfire Posters are always criticizing LE on here for being too quick to arrest someone.
If I had been SealBilly, I'd of been damn pissed if the responding officer DID NOT take that SOB directly to jail!

Whether the kid made an honest mistake or if the neighbor was just lying, That SOB committed a crime with the stupid ass stunt he pulled. I'm sure it would be at least a Class A Misdomeanor, or probably even a Class C Felony! Either way, I damn sure wouldn't won't that unstable SOB around my Wife or Kids !!!

Your neighbor was completly out of line and should be prosecuted before he hurts someone. As a father I'm just glad to hear that your boy is ok. All kids use poor judgement at times, and I'm not saying yours did, but for someone to shoot at someone over that is psychotic. Your neighbor is sick and should get some help. This could have ended much worse.

Bb

Not often I agree with you. But on this I do.

I'm not fileing charges but I told the cops right in front of my wife and the neighbor if he ever comes outside with a gun and shoot up into the woods when my son is hunting on top of the ridge again I most esuredly will take his life and you can put that in your report. And I will, without hesitation. I don't give a damn about anything in this world, money, material stuff all that crap but my family and my friends are worth more that anything to me.

I have give that man fish that I have caught, rope that was gonna be thrown away at work after a wire pull, took him bowls of chilli when I made a big pot and was the first one to welcome him when he moved here. I put a 2200 dollar fence in my back yard so my beagles would stay out of his garden, he was to dang stupid to understand they were killing the rabbits that were eating his garden. I just don't understand.

It's entirely possible for shot to travel 200-300 yds and fall HARMLESSLY to the ground.

The neighbor needs to be charged for his actions, but the boy really didn't do anything "wrong", and doesn't deserve any punishment at all

PREZACTLY !!!

The more I think about the Incadent, the madder I get! THAT Sorry SOB endangered the life of your Kid, and it seems like the responding LEO wasn't even concerned about the saftey of your Family! That SOB should have been in the back of a Patrol Car in Handcuffs, and headed straight to Jail! I think if I was you, I'd be having a conversation with the local Police Chief or Sherriff, of that Agency first thing Monday Morning. And My First Question would be " why the hell ain't that SOB in Jail, and why hasen't his handgun been logged in as evidence!
And I would bet money that most of the LEO guys here on the Fire would agree that it is quite a serious matter or Offense! Again, JMO, though.